Statue in Reykjavík, Iceland
of the discoverer of the North American Continent. Reprinted, with
permission of Prof. Ed Jackson, University of Alberta (Canada) ,
from his collection of Icelandic
photos

Leif Ericson

Columbus' Predecessor by Nearly
500 Years

By Linn Ryne

In 986, Norwegian-born Eirik Thorvaldsson,
known as Eirik the Red, explored and colonized the southwestern part of
Greenland. It was his son, Leiv Eiriksson, who became the first European
to set foot on the shores of North America, and the first explorer of Norwegian
extraction now accorded worldwide recognition.

The date and place of Leiv Eiriksson's
birth has not been definitely established, but it is believed that he grew
up on Greenland. The Saga of Eric the Red relates that he set sail for
Norway in 999, served King Olav Trygvasson for a term, and was sent back
to Greenland one year later to bring Christianity to its people.

There are two schools of thought
as to the subsequent course of events. One of these is that Eiriksson,
en route for Greenland, came off course, and quite by chance came to the
shores of northeastern America in the year 1000, thus preceding Columbus
by nearly 500 years. However, according to the Greenland Saga, generally
believed to be trustworthy, Eiriksson's discovery was no mere chance. The
saga tells that he fitted out an expedition and sailed west, in an attempt
to gather proof of the claims made by the Icelandic trader Bjarni Herjulfsson.
In 986 Herjulfsson, driven far off course by a fierce storm between Iceland
and Greenland, had reported sighting hilly, heavily forested land far to
the west. Herjulfsson, though believably the first European to see the
continent of North America, never set foot on its shores. Leiv Eiriksson,
encouraged by the current talk of potential discoveries, and the constant
need of land to farm, bought Bjarni's ship and set off on his quest of
discovery.

He appears to have followed Bjarni's
route in reverse, making three landfalls. The first of these he named Helluland,
or Flat-Stone Land, now generally regarded as having been Labrador. The
second was Markland, or Wood Land, possibly Newfoundland. The exact location
of the third, which was named Vinland, is a matter of scholastic controversy,
but it could have been as far north as northern Newfoundland or as far
south as Cape Cod or even beyond this.

Eiriksson and his men spent the
winter in Vinland, at a place they named Leifsbud-ir, returning to Greenland
the following year, 1001.

It was left to Eiriksson's brother,
Thorvald to make the next voyage to the new-found territory, for strange
as it may seem, Leiv Eiriksson never returned there. Subsequent attempts
at settlement of Vinland were unsuccessful, due to strong friction between
the Viking settlers and the native North Americans.

Though many still regard Christopher
Columbus as the discoverer of the New World, Eiriksson's right to this
title received the stamp of official approval in the USA when in 1964 President
Lyndon B. Johnson, backed by a unanimous Congress, proclaimed October 9th
"Leif Ericson Day" in commemoration of the first arrival of a European
on North American soil.

Excerpted from "Norwegian
Explorers" from the "ODIN" website, produced for the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs by Nytt fra Norge. The author is responsible for the contents of
the article. Reproduction permitted. Printed in October 1995.